Studio Hopping

Card by Laura (patchwork background idea by Jane)

Okay, it was not so much studio hopping, as first stamping at my house and then driving the 1.2 miles over to Jane's house....and, it wasn't so much "studios" as messy and out of control rooms with a bunch of stuff in them....but we had a great day of creativity and collaboration!
Wall Hanging by Jane and gifted to me! Isn't this stunning! Most all of todays works were created using vintage photos printed on matte paper and then colored with Prismacolors pencils and blended with Gamsol. Gamsol and Prismacolors is THE most wonderful technique.....I would not know what to do without it!!! It was surely serendipitous that we learned about it from Inky Antics when we went to the stamping expo earlier this year.
And now for a commercial interruption........ There is a small one woman owned stamp company..... The Queen's Dresser Drawers
is run by Jo McQueen . She has the most amazing stamps. They are inspired by vintage photos and documents......See above for one from her new line! Also, she is one of the nicest ladies to do business with!! So go order some unmounted and really cool stamps people!Above wall hanging by the talented Jane Maley!!!

Here is a little secret....I am a stamp snob...you know some brands just seem inferior and "common" to me...I have long held this snobby opinion about Hero Arts stamps, but I could not resist this vase of flowers...and it is so much fun to color (used watercolor crayons and aquapainter for the above)....so I must admit that some of the Hero Arts stamps are lots of fun.....I guess it is never a good thing to be snobby! Also, please note that little ribbon/trim on the right side of the image....my new quest is to find trim like this, embroidered flowers or images on cotton ribbon. This particular piece was found by Jane at JoAnn Fabrics, so I will be on a hunt now!
ATC by Jane....the dancer is her grandma, Mary!
ATC by Jane.......Isn't this just too precious!!!??? This photo of the little girl started out as a plain black and white image. Jane's coloring of her dress is truly inspired and top notch! Yesterday afternoon the two of us snuck off to Hoffman Estates, IL and the scrapbook store up there had the whole new line of Anna Griffin papers which you see above in the background of this ATC......Do you think it strange that I had heart palpitations and shortness of breath when I saw all of her papers displayed in one place? Sad, but true, I got all worked up! This is what I have been reduced to people!
You know what my favorite part of this card is? The way the leaves on the trees turned out with the Green Apple Prismacolor pencil and Gamsol!! Stunning (if I do say so myself)..... the other theme running through today's work is the little hint of ribbon folded in two sticking out of the side.......that was inspired by Audrey Hernandez as she was the first person I saw doing it.....

Well that brings us to the close of another fun weekend.....Mike and are I retiring to the TV to watch our guilty pleasure, Big Brother......good trash TV is so therapeutic isn't it?

Have a good week y'all!!!!!